Do you know the Liao Dynasty?
This drama is about the Liao, a nation of Khitan people who, in the 10th century, established an empire that stretched from the eastern Mongolian plateau to northeastern China under the first emperor, Ye Lu Abo Ki.
During the reign of the second Liao emperor, the Liao acquired what are now the cities of Beijing and Datong, and as a result, became the first conquest dynasty in Chinese history to establish a dual rule with Han Chinese under its rule.
What is conquest dynasty?
A conquering dynasty was an empire that ruled over Chinese territory while retaining the culture of its own people.
The Liao, Kim, Yuan, and Qing dynasty were this category.
The Liao’s dual system of governance was a traditional tribal system for the nomadic tribes, while the Han Chinese, who mainly farmed, were governed by a system of provinces and prefectures with government officials.
As a result, the Khitan people were greatly influenced by the culture of the Han Chinese. They began to engage not only in stockbreeding and hunting, but also in agriculture and the construction of cities, and their economy developed economically.
Protecting the unique politics and culture of the people or economic development?
The third emperor had two empresses, one Khitan and one Han Chinese, and promoted the Han system so rapidly that he was assassinated by the conservative faction.
The first emperor, Ye Lu Aboki, had three sons, and the descendants of his line were to take the throne of emperor.
The fourth emperor was not the son of the third emperor, but the son of his third lineage, the son of the second emperor. As a reaction, he aimed for a country by the Khitan people and culture of the Khitan people as in the old days, and he was willing to give up Beijing and Datong, the territories he had acquired.
The son of the third emperor and the Han empress was installed as the fifth emperor in a coup d’état by those who believed that there was no turning back for the economic development of the Liao.
The first half was a struggle for the succession to the imperial throne, and the second half shows how the fifth emperor, whose power was weak, unified the Liao and made it a powerful country.
Although the drama is based on Chinese documents and performed by Chinese actors, and may contain some fictional elements, I think it is an interesting drama from the standpoint of the Liao dynasty.